NOT all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her five daughters, could ask on the subject was sufficient to draw from her husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley. They attacked him in various ways; with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all; and they were at last obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour Lady Lucas. Her report was highly favourable. Sir William had been delighted with him. He was quite young, wonderfully handsome, extremely agreeable, and, to crown the whole, he meant to be at the next assembly with a large party. Nothing could be more delightful! To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love; and very lively hopes of Mr. Bingley's heart were entertained.
"If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield," said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, "and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for."
In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet's visit, and sat about ten minutes with him in his library. He had entertained hopes of being admitted to a sight of the young ladies, of whose beauty he had heard much; but he saw only the father. The ladies were somewhat more fortunate, for they had the advantage of ascertaining, from an upper window, that he wore a blue coat and rode a black horse.
An invitation to dinner was soon afterwards dispatched; and already had Mrs. Bennet planned the courses that were to do credit to her housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred it all. Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day, and consequently unable to accept the honour of their invitation, &c. Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted. She could not imagine what business he could have in town so soon after his arrival in Hertfordshire; and she began to fear that he might be always flying about from one place to another, and never settled at Netherfield as he ought to be. Lady Lucas quieted her fears a little by starting the idea of his being gone to London only to get a large party for the ball; and a report soon followed that Mr. Bingley was to bring twelve ladies and seven gentlemen with him to the assembly. The girls grieved over such a large number of ladies; but were comforted the day before the ball by hearing that, instead of twelve, he had brought only six with him from London, his five sisters and a cousin. And when the party entered the assembly room, it consisted of only five altogether; Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the oldest, and another young man.
Mr. Bingley was good looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, merely looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien; and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.
Mr. Bingley had soon made himself acquainted with all the principal people in the room; he was lively and unreserved, danced every dance, was angry that the ball closed so early, and talked of giving one himself at Netherfield. Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves. What a contrast between him and his friend! Mr. Darcy danced only once with Mrs. Hurst and once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party. His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and every body hoped that he would never come there again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet, whose dislike of his general behaviour was sharpened into particular resentment by his having slighted one of her daughters.
Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.
"Come, Darcy," said he, "I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance."
"I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with."
"I would not be so fastidious as you are," cried Bingley, "for a kingdom! Upon my honour I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life, as I have this evening; and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty."
"You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room," said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.
"Oh! she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you."
"Which do you mean?" and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me."
Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him. She told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous.
The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be, though in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane's pleasure. Mary had heard herself mentioned to Miss Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighbourhood; and Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough to be never without partners, which was all that they had yet learnt to care for at a ball. They returned therefore, in good spirits to Longbourn, the village where they lived, and of which they were the principal inhabitants. They found Mr. Bennet still up. With a book, he was regardless of time; and on the present occasion he had a good deal of curiosity as to the event of an evening which had raised such splendid expectations. He had rather hoped that all his wife's views on the stranger would be disappointed; but he soon found that he had a very different story to hear.
"Oh! my dear Mr. Bennet," as she entered the room, "we have had a most delightful evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had been there. Jane was so admired, nothing could be like it. Every body said how well she looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, and danced with her twice. Only think of that my dear; he actually danced with her twice; and she was the only creature in the room that he asked a second time. First of all, he asked Miss Lucas. I was so vexed to see him stand up with her; but, however, he did not admire her at all: indeed, nobody can, you know; and he seemed quite struck with Jane as she was going down the dance. So, he enquired who she was, and got introduced, and asked her for the two next. Then, the two third he danced with Miss King, and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the two fifth with Jane again, and the two sixth with Lizzy, and the Boulanger --"
"If he had had any compassion for me," cried her husband impatiently, "he would not have danced half so much! For God's sake, say no more of his partners. Oh! that he had sprained his ancle in the first dance!"
"Oh! my dear," continued Mrs. Bennet, "I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome! and his sisters are charming women. I never in my life saw any thing more elegant than their dresses. I dare say the lace upon Mrs. Hurst's gown --"
Here she was interrupted again. Mr. Bennet protested against any description of finery. She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit and some exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.
"But I can assure you," she added, "that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set downs. I quite detest the man."
--正文
尽管有5个女儿帮忙，Bennet太太也竭尽全力向他丈夫打听Bingley先生的事情，但是仍没得到满意的结果。她们用各种各样的方法：各种露骨的问题，着边和不着边的猜测，去拷问Bennet老爷。但是他都 一 一躲过了。最终她们只能被迫接收Lucas太太的二手情报。她的情报是高度可信的：William先生对Bingley先生很满意。Bingley很年轻，非常帅气，待人很礼貌。而且最重要的是：他打算参加下次的大趴体。这可是了不得的事情，喜欢跳舞的男人才容易爱上你们。Bingley先生也希望能玩的开心。
‘如果我有一个女儿在Netherfield安了家，’Bennet太太对他老公说，‘而且其他几个丫头也能嫁个好人家，我这辈子就算是满意了’。
几天后Bingley先生就回访了Bennet老爷,他在Bennet老爷的书房坐了大约10分钟。他希望能见到Bennet家里的姑娘们，这些姑娘的美貌他可听闻许久了。但是他只看到了姑娘们的老爹，姑娘们就相对幸运点，她们透过上面的窗户，看到了Bingley先生，穿着一件蓝色大衣骑着一匹黑马。
很快，Bennet一家就发出了晚餐邀请。Bennet太太也精心准备了晚餐的菜，希望能展示自己的持家水平，但是这很快就被一个消息打乱了。Bingley先生回信说：第二天得回城里，因此没法接受她们的邀请。Bennet太太心里慌得很，她可不敢想Bingley才来Hertfordshire没多久，在城里会有什么事情。她开始担心他会从这个地方到那个地方到处跑，而不是在Netherfield安顿下来。Lucas太太告诉她，bingley回伦敦只是为舞会多叫些伙伴，Bennet太太这才稍微放了点心。没多久，又来消息说，Bingley先生带来了12个姑娘和7个小伙子一起参加舞会。姑娘们听说来了那么多姑娘，心里有些悲伤。但是过两天听说Bingley只带来了6个人回来，而不是12个，而且5个是他的姐妹，1个是他的表亲，姑娘们才放下了心。但最终这伙人来到舞会的时候，大伙才发现一共才来了5个人：Bingley先生，他的两个姊妹，大姐姐的丈夫，和另一个年轻人。
Bingley先生长得很帅气，而且一副绅士的模样。他表情总是很愉悦，举止随合自然。他的姐夫，Hurst先生，勉强算得上个绅士。但是他的朋友Darcy先生，很快就凭着他高个身材，帅气的长相和高贵的举止吸引了全场的注意。Darcy先生才进来5分钟，很快大家就都知道了他一年能挣10000磅。在场的男人们都说他充满着男人气概，在场的女人都说他比Bingley先生帅气多了。他被充满着爱慕的目光盯了几乎半个晚上，直到他的举止让大家感到不顺，很快就不受欢迎了。大家发现他很高傲，对着众人一副冷冷的样子，也很不容易被取悦。这时候，他在Derbyshire的地产再大，也不能让他脸上有几分笑容，大家也觉得Darcy先生无法跟Bingley相比了。
Bingley先生很快就与在场的大人物混熟了。他既活泼又坦率，与每个人一起跳舞，他还抱怨舞会这么早就结束了，说着要在Netherfiled(蘑菇屯)也给自己办一场舞会。他身上的这些讨喜的优点，真是显而易见。他的朋友咋就和他差距那么大呢！Darcy先生只跟hurst太太跳了一曲，又和Bingley小姐姐跳了一曲。高冷地拒绝被介绍给其她姑娘认识，一晚上就在屋子里闲逛，偶尔跟自己朋友聊两句。他的性格我可不会看走眼了。他就是这个世界上最高傲的，最不讨喜的男人，每个人都希望他可没来过。众人之中最讨厌他的非Bennet太太莫属了，Bennet太太本来只是讨厌他的举止，但后来看他对自己的女儿很怠慢，就变得特别讨厌他了。
Elizabeth Bennet因为没有人邀请跳舞，不得不坐着看别人跳了两场舞。正好赶上Bingley先生从舞会中抽身出来，拉着Darcy一起去跳舞，Darcy站在Elizabeth旁边不远，因此他们两人的对话刚好被她听到了。
“快点来啊，Darcy，”Bingley说，‘“我一定得拉着你跳舞，我可见不得你自己杵在那的蠢样子，你跳起舞来会好看多了。”
“我才不回去！你知道我讨厌跳舞，除非我跟舞伴特别熟悉。在这种舞会上面，我可不抱什么指望。你的姐妹都有约了，其他的女人没有一个我能受得了的。”
“我可不像你这么挑剔，Darcy，”Bingley说，“我的蘑菇屯！我这一生可从没像今晚这样。一下见到那么多有趣的姑娘。而且她们中有几个，可不是一般的漂亮。”
“你可和这屋里最漂亮的姑娘跳着舞呢！”Darcy先生一边说，一边看着Bennet家最小的女儿。
“嗯！她确实是我见过的最美的姑娘！但她有个姐姐也非常漂亮，就站在你后面，我敢说甚至很可爱。让我的舞伴给你介绍一下。”Bingley先生说。
“你是说哪个？”Darcy转过身，看了Elizabeth一会，看到她眼睛的时候，他立刻收回了目光，冷冷的说：“这个还行，但还没到能诱惑我的水平。而且我现在可没心思去抬举被人冷落的姑娘。你快回去跟你的舞伴跳舞吧，好好看看她的笑容，跟我在这都是浪费时间。”
Bingley先生听了话回去了，Darcy也走开了。Elizabeth仍然站在那，对Darcy先生没有什么特别的好感。但她却十分兴奋得跟朋友们讲刚刚听到的话。因为她性格活泼，遇到滑稽的事情也能保持好心情。Bennett一家今晚过的很开心。Bennet太太看到她的大女儿Jane在舞会上很受欢迎。Bingley先生和她跳了两次舞，她的妹妹们可没有这个待遇。Jane对此也像她妈妈一样开心，但她表现的很安静。Elizabeth感受到了Jane的喜悦。Mary则听到别人跟Bingley说她是这一片最有才华的姑娘。而Catherine和Lydia一晚上都没缺舞伴，她们对于舞会也别无所求。全家人都开开心心地回了LongBourn村，他们家可算得上是这个村子的贵族。姑娘们发现Bennet老爷还没睡，他看书入神一下看到很晚。此时他很想知道这个姑娘们万分期待的夜晚发生了什么。他之前希望Bennet太太，会对Bingley失望，但是事实完全不是这样。
’啊，我亲爱的Bennet老爷，“Bennet太太一进门就大声说道，”我们今晚可是过的太开心了，今晚的舞会真是精彩极了。我真希望你也去了。Jane广受欢迎，从没见过这样的。每个人都夸她长得漂亮。Bingley先生也这么认为，邀请她跳了两回舞。你可想想这事儿，跳了两回！他只找了Jane跳了两回舞。一开始，Bingley邀请了Lucas小姐姐跳舞，我看他么俩站一起就气不打一处来。但是一会发现，Bingley一点也不喜欢Lucas。也是哦，谁会喜欢Lucas。后来Bingley看到Jane下舞池去跳舞，就一副失了神的样子。然后他就去问了jane的名字，找人介绍认识，并邀请她跳接下来的一场舞。然后第三场跟King小姐一起跳，第四场和Maria Lucas，第五场又是和Jane，第六场是和Lizzy。然后是Boulanger...“
Bennet太太突然被不耐烦的Bennet老爷打断了，’他要是有一点点同情心，他就不会跳那么舞了。老天爷，你可别再说她的舞伴了。我可希望，他在第一场舞就把脚扭了。‘
’哦，亲爱的，我可是喜欢他的很。‘Bennet太太接着说，”他长得十分帅气，姐姐们也很有魅力。我可从没见过他们那般讲究的衣服。要我说，Hurst太太的长袍上的蕾丝，那真是....“
Bennet太太又被打断了。Bennet老爷不想再听她说任何衣服了。于是Bennet太太又殷勤的去找话题，又顺带着提到了Darcy先生的粗鲁行为，她就又略带夸张的去挖苦他。
”但我敢保证，“Bennet太太又说，”Lizzy没被他看上，可没吃什么亏，因为Darcy可是世上最可怕，不讨喜的男人，可一点不值得恭维。你看他那高冷的样，都快上天了！一会走到这儿，一会走到那儿，想着自己有多了不起！他可没帅到那份上，让人去跟他跳舞，想得美！亲爱的Bennet老爷，我可希望你在那儿，好给他点教训！我可不喜欢他！“